Universal patient acceptance: ethics pipe dream or key to improved access in dentistry?

The authors discuss ways that dentistry engages silently and sometimes unknowingly in practice patterns that adversely affect public access to dental care. The concept of acceptance is explained and contrasted with treatment and with access to care. The concept of Universal Patient Acceptance (UPA) is introduced, with a focus on how it underlies and precedes access, creating a pathway so that truer universal access to dental care can be realized. The authors argue that a commitment to Universal Patient Acceptance shows promise as an important starting point in the dental profession's concern to address society's unmet oral health needs.